Adulting 101: tips and tricks for success

What are taxes? How do I build a resume? Why do I have to pay for Wi-Fi?

All very good questions that most 20-somethings don’t know how to answer without the help of Google.

In terms of psychology, the category of emerging adult is now recognized as a time period in an individual’s life. This addition was due to the facts that college students are less financially responsible and still rely on their parents greatly. None of us know where we want to go, what we want to do with our lives, or more importantly, how to be a successful adult.

Jenn Colburn, Brett Colburn, and Shane Wellman are three people who have been a part of the post-graduate adult life for two years and each have separate things that they strongly believe in and have learned along the way.

Jenn Colburn thinks that budgeting is one of the more important parts of being a cohesive adult. She also really likes to plan out her schedule for the week.

In addition to planning, she also likes to meal prep.

“As a nurse, I cannot cook after I get done working for 12 hours, so I meal prep every Sunday for the rest of the week,” she said.

She also mentioned how important washing dishes actually is.

“When you finish your plate, you put it [in the dishwasher]. But if you can’t, you wash them right then,” she said. Now that she is graduated, she has a lot more time to do things she never could because of the busy lifestyle that comes with college. “One of my favorite things about graduating was having time to explore things that you want to do.”

“The transition from college to real life is hard because I have to actually plan out my day, I can’t just wing it,” Brett Colburn, husband of Jenn, said.

He also mentioned how nice it is to not have to do anything you don’t want to do (other than work) when you graduate. During college, there are various classes you have to take that you might not have an interest in. When you graduate, you don’t really have to worry about that.

Like the fears of many college students, first-year Cameron Wehby finds fear in growing up and becoming an adult in the real world.

“Finding sustainability and a job, living on my own and having to do things by myself: that’s completely terrifying,” Wehby said.

Being an adult in the real world is like being in college except for the fact that you could be married, you might live even farther away from your family and friends, and you’ll probably be working over 40 hours a week.

Wellman takes a different method to adulting. His biggest recommendation is to pack your lunch before heading off to work: it will save you an unbelievable amount of money and it really isn’t that hard to make.

“Don’t budget yourself too tightly that you can’t go out and have fun either,” he said.

He also recommended trying new things and making time for friends because odds are, they won’t be right down the hall from you like they were in college.

“Myself and my previous roommate got into different types of breweries, and it gave us a way to get out of our apartments and hang out,” he said.

Another key thing in being an adult is paying your bills, especially on time.

“Set reminders. If you don’t, it is very easy to forget when your bill is due,” Wellman said.

His final piece of advice was to invest in the people who are, and will continue to be, in your life.